Revenge porn is classed as the publication of explicit material portraying someone who has not consented for an image or video to be shared.

The NSPCC, which is fighting to end child abuse, has launched a new advice guide for parents after the charity discovered one in two parents did not know it is illegal for a child to take nude selfies.

While two out of five parents fear their offspring will be involved in sexting, staff at the charity said most have not spoken to them about the risks.

Nearly all of the 1,000 parents interviewed by the NSPCC said they saw sexting as harmful, with a quarter stating that their main concern was about their child losing control of the image.

The NSPCC said one in two parents do not know it is illegal for a child to take nude selfies (Image: TMS)

In the past year the numbers of children counselled by Childline about sexting has risen 15% to almost 1,400 – around four a day.

The NSPCC is urging all parents to use its latest advice so they know what to do if their child has shared an explicit image of themselves or other young people.

The charity is working with mobile phone company O2 to help parents keep their children safe online.

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Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: "Sharing nude selfies can put young people at risk of bullying by peers or being targeted by adult sex offenders, so it's vital that parents talk to their children and that young people feel empowered to say no to sexting requests.

"We realise that talking about sexting can be an embarrassing or awkward conversation for both parents and children. And although most parents said they would seek help if an indecent image of their child had been shared on the internet, half of them weren't confident about getting the right support."

Damaging effects

Mr Wanless urged parents to take notice of the NSPCC’s guide regarding sexting.

The chief executive added: "The NSPCC has created a new guide for parents to help them talk to their children about the risks of sexting, what the law says, and what to do if their child has shared a nude image that is being circulated online or among their peers."

The NSPCC said parents must talk to their children about the risks of sexting

James, 17, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, called Childline when he felt 'almost suicidal’'when a screen shot of a video message of him was posted online.

He said: "My friends and I talk very openly about sexting, our experiences within our relationships and the sort of things we’ve sent each other. So it can seem like everyone's doing it.

"There are definitely risks involved. Someone saw a video message I had sent to a previous girlfriend, took a screen shot and posted it online. They called me a pervert and lots of people I knew saw it. It was clearly me pictured.

"I was completely devastated and, to be honest, almost suicidal. I got the picture taken down eventually but by that stage people had unfriended me and the damage was done."

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The NSPCC encouraged parents who have discovered that their child has been sharing sexual images of themselves to stay calm and ask who the image has been sent to and where it has been shared, as well as encouraging them to delete images from their phone or own social media accounts.

Other action that should be taken by parents includes contacting the site hosting the images of their child if they have been posted by someone else and suggesting the child contacts Childline, who can work with the Internet Watch Foundation to try and get images removed if they have been shared more widely.

Serious commitment

A spokesman for Surrey Police said: "This law came into effect in 2015 and criminalises the sharing of private, sexual photographs or films, where what is shown would not usually be seen in public.

"Surrey Police takes these reports seriously and will do all we can to investigate.

"We would remind people to exercise caution and not to send people images, whether they know them or not, they wouldn't want others to see.

"Often we see people doing things online which they just wouldn’t do face to face, to some this can seem like harmless fun, where in reality, it can devastate people’s lives.

"Our Public Protection Units have recently expanded to accommodate an increase in the numbers of offences reported to us and underpins our commitment to dealing with those offences which can have a lasting and significant impact on the lives of those living and working within our county.”

Anyone wishing to report any revenge porn or sexting offence should call 101 (or 999 in an emergency) or use Surrey Police's online reporting system.